Pisa Beach

June 25, 2010

So, it was Friday, the last day of our stay in Tuscany – and we knew we needed to hit the beach.

It was a very easy drive and we had a great morning.  It is interesting to be on a beach where the backdrop is the mountains.  The beach sand is soooooooooo soft and the kids were thrilled to be there.

Callie, Griffin and I got creative with shells while Daddie and Zander started work on an amazing sand castle.  I don’t think they do sand castles much in Italy since people who passed by seemed to be utterly amazed by their creation.  It was pretty cool…

 

We went swimming too – the water was a bit cold, but not too bad.

The beach started to fill up as the morning drew on, but never got terribly crowded.  No one was topless, but I think I was the only woman, of any size in a one-piece bathing suit. The strangest custom we observed while there was definitely the vendors.  There were dozens of people, mostly African men, hawking stuff on the beach.  They walked along, porting their wares, and stopping frequently to tempt the beachgoers.  This might not have been so strange if they were less pushy – but they wouldn’t leave your blanket until you said a definitive NO!  Also, they sold the strangest stuff – there were  a few who sold the expected sunglasses, beach jewelry, towels and (tempting) even a walking masseuse.  But most of them had things like clothes, nice jewelry, sneakers, sculptures, bows and arrows and even giant woven containers – completely bizarre.

 

We had our picnic and then, before we left, everyone worked together to decorate and make the castle even more amazing.  Zander made a triple moat to slow down the tide – he really didn’t want to leave – and who can blame him?